Faithful readers will know that I was a huge fan of Dubai – but no longer. I was duped which means deceived, trick, hoodwink, hoax, swindle, defraud, cheat, double-cross; gull, mislead, take in, fool, inveigle; informal con, do, rip off, diddle, shaft, bilk, rook, pull the wool over someone’s eyes, pull a fast one on, sucker, snooker.. How did that take place? How was the wool puled over my eyes? Who pulled a fast one on me. Well, I believed the information portrayed by the Sultan (aka Crown Prince of Dubai, aka Fazza) But it appears that it was, in large measure, smoke and mirrors, secrets and lies. Disillusionment began with the London Family Courts’s rolling against the Ruler of Dubai – kidnapping and abduction of two of his daughters and mistreatment of his sixth wife. Final disillusionment occurred two days ago upon the discovery on YouTube of the following entitled Why Dubai’s Man-Made Island Are Still Empty, https://youtu.be/riETCR7FnZE. To make a long story short, it is a mess in every way, including environmentally. Some of the public comments are priceless. ‘Dubai kind of feels like an experiment in what happens when you give people too much money.” Wow, these look like cultured bacteria in a petri dish”. and “Could I have a glass of water, please?” “Certainly, Sir. That will be $10,000.”
Where and when did I make a mistake, what can I learn from this? I am honest and truthful, and assume others are as well. Well, sometimes others are not. When I discover the lies and mistruths I merely walk away, not having anything more to do with them. I was not exactly injured by all of this – wasted a lot of time watching videos on the Fazza but I am retired and so have a lot of time at my disposal. The irony of the situation is that, because of the lie of a little boy, I though I was surrounded with members of the Royal Family of Dubai at my London hotel – instead it was members of the Royal Family of Qatar. I was most relieved when I learned the truth – knowing that the young women were not under the control of the Ruler of Dubai. It was a happy ending.
Further research led to greater joy. The women of the Royal Family of Qatar are educated, at prestigious universities in the West. They serve important roles in their country and are an inspiration to young women in their country and elsewhere. There are two YouTube videos, – one naming and showing photographs of the Emir of Qatar’s brothers and sisters. Then another of the accomplishments of one of the sisters of the Emir. This is the link to the Royal Family: https://youtu.be/pY00YugYC4E. This is the link to the video of the accomplishments of
H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thanhttps://youtu.be/nhas6911uvo.
Fascination with Qatar grew, musing upon the source of their riches and wealth of the country. Discovered a video on YouTube which discussed the source of the wealth and the diversification of investments in real estate and other profitable enterprises. The country is prepared for the drop in the market of its natural gas but that is highly unlikely. Contrast that wisdom with Dubai – relying on tourism and its airlines, no diversification. . Dubai will be facing financial ruin in light of the pandemic – no one is traveling these days, For example United Airlines laid off half of its workforce in San Francisco. My strong ties with Qatar remain – the family is viewed as kind, generous and giving., not just be me but others – others that are employed by the Family,
Back to the home front. I continue to lead a charmed existence. – crammed with doctor appointments, as that is the only place one can go in shut down San Francisco – my doctors are all in Marin actually – Personal Driver escorts me there. He is getting a new nickname – it shall be Man Servant or MS for short. He just laughs, rather enjoying his new found status as he is taking on other tasks as I am almost his only client as he is not driving cab these days. His wonderful wife continues to cook for me – the most delicious food I have ever eaten. Yesterday it was fish , apparently cat fish. Cat fish are most ugly but the fish so fresh and perfectly cooked – moist and flavorful. This pandemic is giving MS a chance to relax – he has worked so hard all of his life, driving a cab through the streets of San Francisco for 35 years. These days he just chauffeurs Miss Daisy, which is me. Mostly in Marin as that is the situs of my various doctors. I have more doctors than ex-husbands, more doctors then University degrees. I do laugh. But it is all because I worked my whole life, was driven and did not have children and was smart enough to have prenuptial agreements which kept the husbands hands off of my retirement income. Now this is funny, when I die and my husband is 55 and we have been married for two years – he will get 60% of my income for the rest of his life. That is not a motivating factor for the young man who proposed marriage about three weeks ago. He is most young and a multibillionaire. It is the truth – not like the Sultan (aka Crown Prince of Dubai, aka Fazza. The individual is richer than the Sultan, richer than Joo Kim Tiah. His fortunes will not be diminished by this pandemic – whereas Joo Kim’s will and the Sultan’s will. I guess I am lucky that way.
I opened my mailbox the other day and found a package from CPI, my high school and Uni friend. It was an amazing t-shirt which shall be pictured. It is emblazoned with the following words. “Current mood, A Little Bit Alexis” I wore it to my physical therapy appointment yesterday – the receptionist not only knew the source of the shirt but also loves Schitts Creek – the Canadian Comedy. Alexis is the daughter of the main characters.
Me: I absolutely love, love, love the shirt. Where did you ever find it?.
CPI: It is part of Schitt’s Creek paraphernalia.
Me: I love Schitt’s Creek. It makes the shirt even more treasured!
